Sweden is considering raising the age limit on social media to prevent gangs from enlisting young people

Government ministers in Sweden are thinking of limiting the age of users on social media sites if tech companies are unable to stop gangs from using the internet to attract young people to commit murders and bombs in the Nordic region.

In contrast to two decades ago, when it had some of the lowest shooting rates in Europe, a surge in gang-related crime has caused Sweden to record the most deadly shootings per capita.

Police in Sweden claim that for the past two years, gangs have started to use social media sites as “digital marketplaces” to openly recruit anonymous teenagers, often as young as 11, to carry out murders and bombs both within the nation and throughout the Nordic region.

Following a meeting with other Nordic justice ministers and social media corporations in Copenhagen on Monday, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters, “It’s a very serious situation.”

“We are not ruling out anything,” he stated, promising to look at other nations’ actions and determine what was best for Sweden.

Australia banned children under 16 from using social media in November.

In Sweden, police figures show that 93 youngsters under the age of 15 are suspected of being involved in murder plot in the first seven months of this year, which is three times more than during the same period last year.

Google, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta officials, according to Strommer, have pledged to do “everything in their power” to address the problem, and it is the responsibility of the social media companies to demonstrate “concrete results.”

In a statement, the Danish government noted that Telegram and Signal were also invited but chose not to attend.

Responses to requests for comment were not immediately received from TikTok, Meta, Google, Snapchat, Telegram, and Signal.

Danish police reported this month that they had 32 incidents of Swedes being hired to perform violent crimes since April. Politicians from Denmark have called the primarily young offenders “child soldiers.”

After Australia recently implemented a social media ban, Swedish Education Minister Johan Pehrson said he was keeping an eye on developments there.

However, he stressed that the government will do everything in its power to prevent minors from spending excessive amounts of time on social media. “It’s not a the first step but it’s not ruled out,” he said of a ban.

“We see that children are stuck in this dark sludge, throwing away their lives” remarked the politician.